Side Effects
by Bookworm810
Summary: After Kagome is injured by Naraku, Inuyasha blames himself and vowes that it will never happen again. He seeks out a Youkai Magician who once served his father, so as to make him stronger, but the spell used has some side effects.
1. Prologue

**DISCLIAMER: ****Inuyasha, world and characters, belong to ****Rumiko Takahashi and not to me. The only things that belong to me are the plot and any additional characters. I make no profit of this story, and am doing it only for my own enjoyment (and hopefully yours too).**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story will likely contain some lemons in later chapters. However, since I know this site is stricter than some others this will be the clean version. If Lemons are added to the story later, I will let you know and tell you which sites you can read them on.**

**PROLOGUE**

Inuyasha could barely stand the pain in his chest, as he looked down at the poor, batted girl lying on the bed in front of him. How could he let her get hurt like this? He'd promised to protect her, and now look what had happened. His precious Kagome was now lying here, with a broken arm, serval cracked ribs and what her 'doctors' called a 'concussion'. All because he'd been out for a run, too caught up in his own thoughts to realise that Naraku was nearly upon the village until it was almost too late. He'd arrived at the site where Kagome and his friends were fighting the evil Hanyou just in time to see his beloved miko fly through the air and collide with a heavy thud on a tree. He could tell she'd been hurt and had attacked his detested enemy with a vengeance. However, it was only after Naraku had been forced into retreat and he'd gone to Kagome only to discover she wouldn't wake up that he'd realised _how_ badly injured she truly was. In panic he'd rushed her to her world and her mother had insisted he bring her here to the place of healing she called a hospital. Inuyasha didn't know how Mrs Higurashi had explained her daughter's injured, and frankly he didn't care. What he did care about was that Kagome got better. He had to admit the doctors in this time had done a good job patching her up, but it was still going to take several weeks until she was fully healed. All because he hadn't gotten to her in time.

Well, never again, Inuyasha promised. Never again would Kagome be hurt because of his incompetence, because he was too weak. Inuyasha had realised months ago that he loved Kagome, and even if she never returned his love he would do anything to keep her safe. With that thought in mind, Inuyasha came to a discission, one he had been considering for several months, ever since Naraku had gotten hold of almost the entire jewel and become that much more powerful. So far though his pride had held him back, but no longer. He knew what he had to do now. While Kagome was healing he would go and do that which he had promised himself he would never do since he was a child.

As soon as Inuyasha returned to his own time, he was going to have to seek out Meikyuu.

!!

Meikyuu wasn't her real name, Inuyasha knew. No one knew what her real name was anymore; he suspected not even Miekyuu herself even remembered it. She'd been calling herself that for centuries now, even before she'd joined his father's employ. The name went with the whole 'Youkai Magician' persona he guessed.

Meikyuu was several hundred if not thousands of years old, and well versed in mystic arts. She'd travelled far and wide, learning magic from all four corners of the globe (or so she claimed anyway, after learning from Kagome just how big the world really was Inuyasha was starting to doubt that), and during the reign of Inuyasha's father as the Inu No Tasiho, had served as advisor and magician to the Ruler of the Western Lands.

Inuyasha had never liked her. He hadn't seen her in years, but in all of his memory she was exactly the same; an old hag with a holier-than-thou attitude and a horrible stench permeating the air around her. And from what Myoga had told him when he'd told the old flea of his plans to seek her out, she hadn't changed over the years, just gotten more arrogant and more smelly. What really pissed Inuyasha off about her though was one particular memory of her, from right after his mother had died. He'd been kicked out by his mother's human family and Sesshomaru had made it clear that he didn't want him. He was a eight year old boy who'd just lost his mother and had no place to go, when suddenly she turned up. She had said in her usual arrogant way that she'd told his father that having a Hanyou child in the first place was a mistake, but that she had an obligation to fulfil a promise she'd made to his father if he wanted it, and unlock as much of his demon powers as she could without eradicating his human blood or overwhelming it. She would have preferred to go all the way, but the Inu No Taisho had forbidden that, thinking it an insult to his human mate. But even doing what the Inu No Taisho had wanted would make him as powerful as his brother, and help erase the shame his human mother brought on him.

Inuyasha had been furious, and yelled at her to get lost. How dare she insult his mother like that!? And what the hell was she thinking, offering this dumb spell like it would make everything better? Besides, he didn't need her to become strong, his mother had said he could do it on his own and he would. Meikyuu had simply snorted and turned away, saying it was his loss, that she'd done her part by simply offering. If he didn't want her help, it was no business of hers but in respect for his father the offer would remain open if he should ever change his mind.

Inuyasha had seen her a couple more time over the years. Each time she'd renew her offer and each time Inuyasha would angrily refuse. Now, for Kagome's sake he was actually seeking the old bag out in the hope of getting her to fulfil that promise. He hated himself for that, but it was the only way he could think of right now that would help him get stronger, strong enough to better protect Kagome. For Kagome, he would do this.

Kagome. How he missed her. It was over a full week, nine whole days since he'd last seen her. The longest he'd been gone from her side since she freed him from his seal over two years ago. At least he knew she was safe and sound in her time right now. Inuyasha had stayed by her side until she'd been allowed to go home from that hospital place, and then stayed with her for some time at her home while he'd had Myoga seek out the whereabouts of Meikyuu for him. By the time Inuyasha had had a location to look in, Kagome still had at least two weeks left until her arm healed enough for her to come back. He'd wanted to find Meikyuu and received any power boost she could give him before his beloved Kagome returned to his time, so he decided to set out then. After, of course making her promise not to return to his time until he came back to get her, a promise he was sure that her mother was going to make her stick to. She'd been worried when he'd told her his plan, naturally. She wouldn't be Kagome if she didn't worry about him, especially when it involved strange Youkai who wanted to put spells on him. Inuyasha had told her to worry though, whatever else Meikyuu was she wasn't devious. He was sure that there was no chance this was a trap.

Finally, he reached Meikyuu's last known location, and sure enough there she was. Inuyasha had to snort when he took the scene in, it was so typically Meikyuu. The ruins of some old shrine, done up with some gaudy decorations in a failed effort to make it look important. Some lower level Youkai servants who looked to be a species closely related to that toad that followed his brother around, who were running around with platters of drinks or food, scrubbing away to make everything as neat as ruins in the middle of a forest could be, or standing by the side badly playing out-of-tune musical instruments. And in the middle of it all, sitting on an old stone chair that resembled a throne, was Meikyuu, looking every bit as arrogant as ever.

"Inuyasha, younger son of the late Inu No Taisho." Meikyuu said calmly when she spotted him, only the slight widening of her eyes revealing her surprise at his sudden entrance. "Why do you seek me out?"

"I've come to collect on the promise you made my father." Inuyasha said through gritted teeth, hating to have to admit this to her. If it wasn't for Kagome and his obligation to see that she stayed safe he'd turn around and walk out of here right now.

"Oh?" Meikyuu asked, amusement entering her voice. "I thought you didn't need my help? Isn't that what you told me, repeatedly over the years? What's changed?"

"Look, just tell me will you cast your damn spell or not?" Inuyasha demanded. "Because if not, I'm walking out of here right now."

"Peace, Inuyasha, I'll honour my promise and cast my spell if it is what you wish. However, since you waited so long to accept my offer there may be a problem." Meikyuu said, a slight frown. "The spell I was to use was meant to be cast on a child, and as I'm sure you realise you are now in the final stages of your adolesce. The spell will still work, and unleash the full potential of your demon power while leaving your human blood and heart intact. However, there may be some side effects which neither of us considered."

"Will my demon blood overwhelm me, like when my life is in danger?" Inuyasha asked, suddenly worried. If there was a chance he'd turn into a blood thirsty monster like he did after Tetsusaiga broke, than there was no way he could go through with this no matter how much he needed the power.

"You know about that, do you?" Meikyuu asked, looking surprised. "No, that is one thing your father had been worried about from the beginning and so my spell is set accordingly. There will be no chance of you losing your mind that way."

"Then I'll take my chances." Inuyasha said. He'd come this far, he'd go all the way. That was the only possible side effect he was truly worried about, and thing else he'd take his chances on and work out when it hit him.

"Very well." Meikyuu said. "Servants, bring me my staff, my crystals and my herbs. Tonight, I fulfil my final obligation to the Inu No Taisho by awaking the dormant power within his son. By dawn tomorrow, Inuyasha, your power will have reached new heights and we shall never have to see each other again."

"At least that's a good thing." Inuyasha muttered as he watch frog like creatures run around and do their mistresses bidding. Hopefully by the night was over, he would have enough power that he would never again fail Kagome.


	2. The First Side Effect

**DISCLIAMER: ****Inuyasha, world and characters, belong to ****Rumiko Takahashi and not to me. The only things that belong to me are the plot and any additional characters. I make no profit of this story, and am doing it only for my own enjoyment (and hopefully yours too).**

**WARNING: parts of this chapter people might find rather gross. If you don't like it that's your business, but don't say I didn't warn you.**

**THE FIRST SIDE EFFECT**

It was three weeks now since Inuyasha had returned from his mission to find that old Youkai magician, and the gang was on their first journey together since Kagome had been hurt. The doctors in her time had declared her fully healed and ready to once again go about her normal life, but Inuyasha was still insisting that she take it easy and was staying practically glued to her side during this trip.

Inuyasha couldn't believe how good she smelled right now. He'd always loved her scent but the first time he'd been in her presence after Meikyuu had cast her spell he'd almost been balled over by how amazing she smelt. Every one of his senses had increased, to the stage where he was actually worried about how he'd cope when the New Moon rolled by next week. He'd had trouble adjusting to his reduced senses on New Moons before Meikyuu's spell, now that he was finally starting to adjust to these new and improved ones… well, he'd just have to deal with that when the time came.

So far the spell was actually working out pretty well, Inuyasha thought. Not only were his senses increased, but he was so much faster and stronger than he was before, he could feel it and had proven so in the last few weeks much to the awe of the villages who had come out in droves to watch him practice his new powers. His Youkai attacks had increased in power too, he'd never even imagined his Iron Reaver Soul Stealer could do as much damage, good thing he'd been practicing pointing away from the village. The increased power in his Blades Of Blood wasn't to be scoffed at either. So far Tetsusaiga's attacks seemed about the same, but as Myoga pointed out he was the one who had the power boost this time, not Tetsusaiga, so that was probably to be expected. Besides, it wasn't as if his sword wasn't damn powerful y itself anyway.

So far, the only 'side effect' of the spell he could see was that he was now sporting a pair of Youkai Markings on his face. Not what he'd call a big deal, though they had startled his friends when they first saw him, fearing that maybe he had transformed into his full demon form. Once he'd assured them that that wasn't the case, they calmed down pretty quickly. Like him, they figured that if that was the only side effect he received in exchange for his increased power, then it was more than a fair trade. He really didn't get what Meikyuu had been so worried about. He was still a little concerned that more side effects might pop up, but as time went by he became less and less concerned. After all, if anything else was going to happen in would have happened by now, wouldn't it?

!!

Inuyasha first noticed it when the group stopped for a quick lunch of ramen. It wasn't much really, just a slight itch on his back, just about at his tailbone. Nothing really worth thinking about, especially when he had such a good distraction as ramen to keep his mind occupied. After three cups of his favourite of Kagome's future foods, he was ready to get moving again. However, the itch was still there, and it seemed to be getting worse. He tried to ignore it, but he just couldn't. Before he knew it, it was dinnertime, and the itch was still there and about ready to drive him insane.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" Shippo asked, watching Inuyasha rub his back up against the tree behind him, looking annoyed as he had for most of the afternoon.

"I've got this damn itch on my back that won't go away." Inuyasha growled slightly, rubbing his back harder against the rough bark in hope of finding some relief. "It's driving me crazy!"

"I've got some cream in my bag that might help with that." Kagome offered, digging through her bag in search of the lotion she had in mind. "It's good with bug bites and stuff. Do you want to try some?"

Inuyasha snorted. "I'm about ready to try anything." Inuyasha muttered, moving away from the tree and starting towards Kagome. He only got half way towards her when it happened.

All at once the itch on his back changed to an over welcoming burning pain, much greater than even his tolerance could handle. The pain spread like a wild fire up his back, it felt like his whole spine was on fire. With a howl of absolute agony, Inuyasha collapsed onto the ground, the pain affecting his ability to stand.

All this took place in little more than a second, leaving his friends staring in shock. One moment Inuyasha was walking towards them looking annoyed, the next thing they knew he was lying face down on the ground withering in agony. For a moment, they couldn't help but sit and stare in shock at this development, that it until another cry of pain from the Hanyou had them all rushing to his side.

"INUYASHA!"

"Oh, God, Inuyasha what's wrong, how can we help?" Kagome cried, wanting to do something, anything, to help the Hanyou she secretly loved. She had no idea what was wrong with him, but she knew her Hanyou well enough to know he must be in an extraordinary amount of pain. She'd seen Inuyasha get stabbed right through his stomach and not cried, and now he was withering and howling in pure agony.

"My, my back." Inuyasha gritted out.

"Your back, what about your back?" Kagome asked, sounding more and more frantic. She wanted to hug Inuyasha and comfort him, but she was scared to even touch him for fear of aggravating his pain.

"I, I don't know." Inuyasha said through gritted teeth. "It feels like my spine's on fire… AHHHHH!" He broke off in another scream as the pain suddenly increased ten fold, the burning sensation centring at his tailbone.

Inuyasha's scream was so loud that it covered up the lesser sound of cloth ripping, and the pain was too intense for him to notice anything else that was happening with his body. His friends on the other hand, who in fear for their friend had their undivided attention focused on him, noticed what was happening right away. They just didn't realise what it was they were seeing at first.

The gang had been surprised when something seemed to be pushing itself out from the seat of Inuyasha pants, ripping it's way through the material. Something long, thin and made out of ugly pale flesh immerged from the hole, quickly growing in length. Shocked, the gang thought maybe it was some kind of parasite Youkai that had somehow attacked their friend and was now trying to leave his body. That would explain the pain Inuyasha was in, although they thought they didn't want to think too much about where it was likely exiting from. In fact, they were so sure that that was what it had to be that Sango ready her Hiraikotsu and Miroku pulled out a handful of sutras, both ready to attack and only holding back for the moment out of fear that they might accidentally hurt Inuyasha even more. As soon as the parasite put some distance between it and their friend though, it was history.

However, it didn't move away. It grew to be slightly more that a foot and a half long, before it stopped growing, the end still attached to Inuyasha. It stood there quivering slightly when it suddenly started sprouting fur, brilliant, soft looking silver fur, the exact colour of Inuyasha's hair. With a shock they all realised what it was they were seeing and couldn't help but stare. This was certainly unexpected.

By now the pain had faded for Inuyasha, almost as quickly as it had come, but now he was left with a new sensation he couldn't explain. It was something he'd never felt before, but at least it wasn't painful just new and strange. Whatever it was, he realised with a flash or irritation, it was starting to itch again. Looking up at Kagome, Inuyasha was about to ask her if she could get that cream she promised when he noticed that her attention, and the attention of the rest of his friends, was firmly focused on something in the vicinity of his butt. Whatever it was had them all staring in varying states of shock and disbelief. Suddenly feeling worried, Inuyasha looked over his shoulder to see what had captured their attention so fully.

Upon doing so, Inuyasha's expression quickly changed to match his friends. Proudly standing there was his brand new, fluffy silver tail.

As he continued to stare at the tail in shock, only one thought managed to make it through Inuyasha's disbelieving mind.

'_Well, I guess now I know why Meikyuu was worried about side effects.'_


	3. The Tail

**DISCLIAMER: ****Inuyasha, world and characters, belong to ****Rumiko Takahashi and not to me. The only things that belong to me are the plot and any additional characters. I make no profit of this story, and am doing it only for my own enjoyment (and hopefully yours too).**

**THE TAIL**

Inuyasha was not having a good day, and it was all that lousy tail's fault. How the hell was he supposed to deal with this? Sure he'd been warned that having the spell cast upon him so late in his life might have side effects, but a TAIL? This was just ridiculous! Inu Youkai didn't have tails, sure some people were silly enough to mistake Sesshomaru's moko-moko for one, but that was different. Tails, actual tails were not something any Inu Youkai had ever had that Inuyasha knew of, so why the hell had he suddenly grown one!?

At least it had stopped itching once the fur had finished growing in. Now, it was covered in long, silver fur that felt as soft as that if a puppy's. Kagome had remarked that it looked kind of like a silver version of a tail belonging to some breed of dog in her time known as a 'Golden Retriever'. Having never seen one of these 'Retrievers' he wouldn't know. What Inuyasha did know is that he didn't like it at all. For one thing, having lived without a tail his entire life he naturally had no idea how to control it. It seemed to have a mind of it's own and would move about without any conscious thought from Inuyasha, often seeming to do exactly the worst thing for the situation. Now that he'd adjusted to it somewhat, he realised that that strange feeling he'd felt when it first grew in was a kind of 'fifth limb' sensation. He could now feel through his tail, which caused it's own set problems. For instance, it _hurt_ when Kirara had apparently decided it would make a great new toy to play with and had jumped on it in kitten form with claws outstretched. Still, that led Inuyasha to the conclusion that eventually he would be able to control it like any of his other limbs, but unfortunately for right now that was something he had not yet learnt how to do. And in the meantime he was busy just trying to adjust to little things like walking with the added weight to throw off his balance and trying to figure out how to sit down without crushing his new appendage.

Then there were the reactions of his friends, that was making everything that much more difficult. He didn't know how much longer he could take their stares, like they'd never seen him before or something. It was certainly not making him feel any better about this whole situation.

Inuyasha had thought that Shippo would be the worst and tease him mercilessly, but the kit had surprised Inuyasha with his reaction. Once he'd gotten over his initial surprise over the sudden new growth of the tail, Shippo had handled it very well. His only real comment was that he liked his own brand of tail, nice and fluffy as apposed to more long and whippy. After that, Shippo hadn't said anything even remotely negative about it, and had actually tried offering Inuyasha some advice on how to adjust to and use his new tail. The advice had all been pretty much useless, due to the young kit's inability to properly express in words something he'd been doing instinctively since he was a child. Inuyasha wasn't surprised by that, it would be like trying to explain how to make a fist to someone who had never had hands or something, you know what you do but trying to put into words every little detail a person needs do to get there isn't so easy. Thinking about it, Inuyasha guessed he shouldn't be that shocked that Shippo was handling Inuyasha having a tail so well, after all Shippo had been born into a species where _not_ having a tail made you weird. Of course he would have the easiest time dealing with Inuyasha suddenly growing one. Kirara was pretty easy to please too, once Inuyasha had managed to convince her that his tail was not a toy for her to chase anyway. It was the others whom Inuyasha felt self-conscious around.

It wasn't that they actually said anything negative about his new tail. In fact, they were obviously trying very hard to be supportive about the whole thing. But the truth of the matter was, however good their intentions were his friends were obviously still somewhat shocked and dismayed. They kept stealing long looks at his tail, only to shutter apologies and continue walking with eyes forward whenever Inuyasha caught them. Well, Miroku and Sango did anyway. Kagome would quickly look away and pretend she hadn't been looking, but her blush would always give her away.

Inuyasha felt his heart break every time she did this, as it was Kagome's reaction that hurt the most. She couldn't even bring herself to apologise for staring, could she? Kagome had always been the first one to accept him, and now she seemed to be the last one to come to any kind of understanding of this weird side effect. Why? She'd accepted everything else about him, why couldn't she accept this? Maybe it was just one thing too many, Inuyasha thought sadly. After all, she'd already put up with his ears, his fangs, his claws, his oddly coloured hair and eyes, and now you were throwing a tail into the mix? How much more was she supposed to handle? He was already a freak in so many ways, it wasn't like Inuyasha could have expected her patience with him would be never ending. But this… this had come about because he wanted, no needed, to become more powerful in order to protect her. Didn't that count for anything? Apparently not because now she couldn't even bring herself to look him in the eye and admit she had been staring. And it hurt. It hurt so much to see her pulling away from him like this. He had always known that one day he would have to face his worst nightmare and live without her, but he had never thought it would be this soon.

Fucking tail!

!!

It had been three and a half days since Inuyasha's new tail had grown in, and since then Kagome had been watching whenever she thought Inuyasha wouldn't notice. She knew she probably shouldn't, but she couldn't help it, her eyes just kept being drawn back. Well, whether she should or she shouldn't be looking, look she had and over the course of the last three days Kagome had drawn some conclusions about Inuyasha's new appendage.

One of Souta's best friends, his family owned a Golden Retriever called Midas. Kagome had seen enough of Midas on trips to drop off and pick up Souta to form fondness for the big mutt, and had started to notice things about him that she couldn't help but compare to Inuyasha right now. That was what had lead Kagome to her almost immediate conclusion that Inuyasha's new tail and Midas' tail were simular in shape. And as time went by, Kagome had noticed that appearance wasn't the only thing the two tails had in common. They acted the same way too, clearly showing off their owners' emotions to those who knew how to read the language of tails. Kagome was pretty sure that Inuyasha didn't even realise he was doing it yet, but he had been broadcasting his feelings loud and clear through his tail for the last three days.

First there was the obvious doggy-tail signal that everyone knew; a wagging tail meant happy. Inuyasha hadn't been very happy since the new tail came in, not that he ever seemed to be overly happy on any given day, Kagome thought sadly. However, there had been a definite wag there when she'd suggested they have ramen for dinner two nights ago. She didn't think anyone else had noticed it, but just to be sure she had imagined the whole thing, she had suggested they use up the rest of the ramen for breakfast the next morning. She'd had to struggle not to giggle after that, she'd been right Inuyahsa's tail was definitely wagging after that. It was so cute, and it took everything within her not to squeal with delight, she was pretty sure Inuyasha wouldn't appreciate that. After that she'd started watching the tail more closely, trying to see if Inuyasha unknowingly expressed any other feelings through it. And he did. After that first time Kirara had jumped on his tail and dug her claws in enough to make Inuyasha yelp in pain, Inuyasha had been wary of her when she came near him in kitten form and his tail would reflect that. It would automatically try to tuck itself between his legs when the Hanyou noticed the fire-cat getting too close; a clear sign that he was, if not scared at least cautious. And then there was that time when he'd yelled at Miroku for doing something – she couldn't quite remember what but whatever it was had annoyed him – and his tail had stood at attention with the fur bristling, the way Midas' had whenever the neighbour's cat had dared enter _his_ yard. A clear sign that he was angry, although that was one emotion Kagome admitted she didn't need extra clues to recognise.

Right now though, Inuyasha's tail was showing an emotion that worried Kagome, one she had seen far too often over the last few days. Right now, his tail was slack, drooping down lifelessly near his knees. He was depressed, really depressed. Kagome hated to see him like this. She loved him, she wanted him to be happy, even if it wasn't with her. Maybe she should talk to him, maybe that would help with whatever was bothering him. Yes, that seemed like the best thing she could do right now.

With that thought in mind, Kagome moved up to walk next to Inuyasha. She stayed silent for a few moments, knowing from experience that sometimes it was better to let Inuyasha make the first move.

"What?" He asked after a minute or two of silence, and the amount of venom in his voice surprised Kagome. Obviously this whole tail thing was bothering her more than she thought.

"Inuyasha what's bothering you?" Kagome asked, making the quick decision that this was one of those times when it would be better to just get to the point.

Inuyasha stopped walking and just looked at her like she was crazy for a minute. Immediately Kagome stopped as well, waiting for Inuyasha to talk to her.

"What's bothering me?" Inuyasha asked incredulously. "I would think _that_ would be plainly obvious." He said, throwing a meaningful look over his shoulder at his tail, which had started to perk up and bristle. He obviously wasn't enjoying this conversation, but Kagome decided it was better to push on anyway.

"Inuyasha, I know the whole tail thing came as a shock, but please you shouldn't let it bother you too much." Kagome said carefully, worried about how Inuyasha was going to take what she was trying to say. "I mean, sure it's strange and all, but…"

"Strange?" Inuyasha demanded. "It's _strange_? That's all you have to say? I've got a fucking tail sticking out of me! Shippo keeps going on about how his is better, Kirara wants to chase and eat it, Miroku and Sango won't even look at me because of it, and your ashamed of it! And all you can say is that it's strange and I shouldn't let it bother me so much?"

Kagome just stared at Inuyasha in shock for a minute, not knowing what to say after that outburst. Inuyasha watched her for a couple of minutes, before snorting in disgust and turning to walk away. As far as he was concerned, her silence was confirmation of his fears, and his heart couldn't stand to look at her anymore right now.

However, he barely got to steps away before Kagome ran up behind him and grabbed his arm with a strength Inuyasha wouldn't have suspected she had.

"I'm _not_ ashamed of you Inuyasha!" Kagome said, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion. "I could never be ashamed of you, especially not over something as trivial as a new tail! How could you possibly think that?"

Slowly, Inuyasha turned to look at Kagome, his eyes and nose searching for any sign that she was being untruthful. There was none.

"You're, you're now?" Inuyasha asked, hating how weak his voice sounded but unable to help it. "But the way you've been looking at me since…"

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, suddenly realising how badly her supposed converted stares had been misread. "It's just that I couldn't help but notice over the last few days how expressive your new tail is. I don't think you noticed but you've been broadcasting your emotions through it ever since it grew in. I've just found it kind of fascinating, but I was afraid you'd take me watching the wrong way so I was trying not to let you notice."

Inuyasha just blinked at her, trying to take in what she was saying. _'Fascinating? She doesn't think the tail is weird but_ fascinating_? She's not ashamed of me now?' _

Inuyasha felt weak with relief, but Kagome wasn't finished yet. Now that she realised just how much this had upset Inuyasha, and how much worse she had unknowingly made things with her own actions, Kagome felt compelled to tell Inuyasha the rest of what she'd been thinking.

"Besides." Kagome said, blushing darkly. "I also think that… uhh… well… I couldn't help but feel… ummm…"

"Well, spit it out already?" Inuyasha snapped, however he couldn't really bring himself to truly pretend to be angry after the huge weight Kagome had just lifted off his shoulders."

"I think the tail's cute, okay? There I said it." Kagome said, her face now a lovely fire-rat red, while at the same time she'd apparently found something on the ground right in front of her shoes that was extremely interesting.

Inuyasha stood there blinking for a couple of minutes, his face slowly turning red. Suddenly, he turned around and started walking quickly to catch up with the others.

"Keh, weird wench find it '_cute'_? Keh." Inuyasha muttered just loud enough to hear, once again donning his tough-guy-I-don't-care-what-you-think armour.

Kagome watched him walk away, a smile forming on her face as she fought down a giggle. Inuyasha may pretend he doesn't care what she said or thought, but Kagome knew different. If he didn't care he wouldn't have been so upset. She knew him too well not to realise he was happy now she'd cleared up that little misunderstanding and told him how she really felt. He didn't need to say anything.

The rapidly wagging tail said it all.

**Author's Note**

Just in case anyone cares, everything I mentioned about tails showing a dog's feelings in this chapter I learnt from my own dog, a Golden Retriever slash Labrador mix named Evie. She really does all those things with her tail, and it's can be a great way to tell her mood.


	4. Myoga and Koga

**DISCLIAMER: ****Inuyasha, world and characters, belong to ****Rumiko Takahashi and not to me. The only things that belong to me are the plot and any additional characters. I make no profit of this story, and am doing it only for my own enjoyment (and hopefully yours too).**

**QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE: ****This is actually the _clean_ version of this chapter. You will find another version of this story on Mediaminer, Adult Fan Fiction and Eternal Destiny**

**MYOGA & KOGA**

"Oh this is just terrible! Your father would be furious and demand that traitorous hag's head for doing this to you Master Inuyasha. It is an outrage!" Myoga cried, his voice and expression a weird mix of anger and sorrow as huge (for a flea Youkai) tears rolled down his face.

The old flea had been going on like that for a while now, and it was straining Inuyasha's last nerves. If it weren't for the fact that Kagome was sitting next to him, supportively rubbing his hand between both of hers, he would have squashed the damn flea ages ago just to shut up his bawling. As it was, even Kagome's comforting presence was wearing off but for once Myoga seemed unaware of the danger he was in and so kept up his ranting.

Before Myoga had arrived things had really seemed to be looking up for Inuyasha, at least for a while. After Kagome's revelation the day before – where she confessed that she was not only not put off by Inuyasha's new tail but actually thought it was cute – the half Inu Youkai had been feeling much better about the whole scenario. Just the fact that Kagome wasn't ashamed of him and still wanted to be his friend was enough to lighten Inuyasha's mood considerably. The fact that his new appendage was apparently 'cute' to her was surprising and rather weird in Inuyasha's mind, but he wasn't about to start complaining about that. If there was anything in this world that might increase the chance of his greatest dream coming true – that of Kagome one day agreeing to be his mate – even the tiniest little bit he was willing to jump on it with open arms. He knew that in reality the chances of his dream truly coming true were probably about as likely as Hell freezing over, but anything that gave him in the smallest hope that it might be possible was something Inuyasha was not willing to pass up. If Kagome liked his tail, well then Inuyasha still thought it was weird but if Kagome liked it then he could certainly learn to like it too. Then again, exactly _how_ did she like it? Did she think it was attractive in the way a woman feels over a potential mate, like Sango feels for that letch Miroku? Or did she think it was cute in an animalistic kind of way, like the way she gushed over how sweet Kirara was in her kitten form, or how she fawned over those puppies they'd seen in that glass box at that 'pet shore' one day (something that actually disturbed Inuyasha somewhat, but that's a story for another day)? And another thing, even if Kagome did like his tail in the way a mate would, how would her family take to his new appendage? Would they be disgusted by it, thinking it one animalistic trait too far? Would they use that as an excuse to forbid any relationship that might form between the two of them? Inuyasha didn't know too much about the courting rituals of Kagome's world, but in his at least a family's opinion held enormous weight and could forbid matches if they felt it wasn't in their child's best interest. Inuyasha was sure that her Grandfather at the very least would jump on this latest excuse to keep them apart, not that he needed any extra excuses if all his rants about 'evil demons' were anything to go on. Inuyasha was trying not to think about all that though. As had become something of his motto when it came to Kagome these last few months, Inuyasha was trying not to think about the future at all and just enjoy what he had at that moment. And right now, Kagome was being nicer than normal to him, most likely out of some kind of guilt for worrying him in the first place. She walked next to him during their hikes, sat next to him when they stopped to eat, worked hard to make the food just how he liked it. She even hugged him or held his hand at times, like she was doing right now. And although he pretended it didn't matter to him, in reality he eagerly soaked it all up, basking in her attention. Each moment a precious memory he would forever hold dear in his heart if the day did come when Kagome truly left him forever. He prayed that day never came, but if it did at least he had this time to look back on and cherish. Not, of course that he would ever tell anyone about all of this, he had a reputation to maintain after all, he couldn't come off as some pathetic wimp! It was all true though.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand, he had been enjoying yesterday afternoon a surprising amount considering. Things had been going well today too, until just after lunch. The group had just finished eating and were getting ready to go on the road again when none other than Myoga showed up.

Inuyasha hadn't seen Myoga in some time now. After **Meikyuu had cast her spell on Inuyasha, and it appeared that there weren't going to be any serious side effects (called ****_that_**** one too early, Inuyasha thought ruefully), Inuyasha had immediately started back for the Well and Kagome. Myoga on the other hand had stayed with Meikyuu for a while, to fill her in on what had been happening with him and some of the other of the late Inu No Taisho's vassals whom Meikyuu hadn't seen in quite some time. Myoga's opinion of Meikyuu actually wasn't much better than Inuyasha's actually, he respected her magic but her personality had always irritated the old flea. Still, after the spell had been cast Myoga felt somewhat obliged to answer Meikyuu's inquiries on what their old colleagues had been doing lately. Myoga had eventually left after Myoga and Meikyuu ran out of colleagues to talk about, who weren't already long dead and buried anyway (it had been quite some time now since the Inu No Taisho had died after all). Afterwards the old flea had set out in search of Inuyasha, apparently deciding that for once it was safe enough to do so and wanting to know how Inuyasha had been since the spell was cast. Finding out that his master had mysteriously grown a tail, however, was not something Myoga had anticipated, and the shock of it had sent him into the rant that had lasted for a good half an hour now.**

**"Enough already!" Inuyasha yelled suddenly, shocking Myoga into silence. Myoga had been so caught up in his raving that he hadn't noticed how annoyed Inuyasha had gotten. Add that to the fact that he was just shouting and not squashing the old flea, and Myoga was very surprised indeed. "Damn it, we've all got it, I've got a tail now. Boo hoo. Damn bug, if I'm dealing with it you can too. Unless you think Meikyuu can get rid of it?"**

"Um, well, I don't know, my lord." Myoga said nervously, probably wondering whether or not Inuyasha was about to squash him. "She might be able to, but even if she could I'm not sure that she would. Even when your father was alive she would usually just do her own thing without caring what others wanted. And besides, when I left her she was planning on heading back to the continent. I don't think you would be able to catch her before she leaves and once she leaves the island I don't believe we will be likely to see her for another century or more."

"Figures." Inuyasha said dryly. "Oh well, I never counted on her help anyway. Besides, it's just a tail. Weird, I know but I can live with it. There's no use going crazy over the damn thing."

"Oh master, you're so brave!" Myoga said, tears coming back into his eyes. "So courageous to face such a horrible thing happening to you and move on so quickly. Even your great father would be unsettled to be cursed with such a hideous appendage!"

"Hey!" Shippo interrupted Myoga's new rant angrily. "I have a tail too, and I don't think it's ugly!"

"Well, yes there is that." Myoga said carefully moving away from Shippo, just in case the kit had picked up the habit of squashing fleas when they said something he didn't like from Inuyasha. "But it is different for Kitsune. For your kind, your tail is an important part of kitsune magic and shape-shifting abilities. That is why it is so difficult for kitsune who is weak or under-trained to conceal it properly. It is different for Inu. Inu have not had tail for thousands upon thousands of years."

"You mean Inu used to have tails, a long time ago?" Kagome asked, curious about the possibility that Inu Youkai have had tails on a large scale and then universally lost them, as Myoga's words seemed to imply. Did that mean some kind of Youkai evolution? She knew all about the theory of evolution from school, but she had never considered it in relation to Youkai before.

"Well, yes they did, once." Myoga said, seeming uncomfortable with this line of conversation. "But only in their most primal state, eons ago. As Inu Youkai became more civilised, and keep in mind that Inu were one of the first Youkai species to do so, the tails were lost and never returned. The same can be said for most civilised Youkai now day, save those like Kitsunes whose tails serve a logical purpose. The only other Youkai that have tails now days are the more animalistic ones."

"But Koga and a lot of other Ookami Youkai have tails." Kagome said, ignoring Inuyasha's low growl when she said his rival's name. Kagome was intrigued by Myoga's words; this was something about Youkai she had never thought about before. When she thought about it though she saw that Myoga was right, very few humanoid Youkai had seemed to have tails.

"Yes, well, you can hardly call the average Ookami _civilised_." Myoga said with a dismissive snort. "Cave dwelling beasts that they are, they live no differently from the wolves they control for the most part. It is little wonder they are so late to lose their tails. Besides only about one in every five Ookami has a tail."

Kagome frowned at the insult to whom she considered a friend, even as Inuyasha snickered. Kagome opened her mouth to defend Koga and his pack, when suddenly the wolf den she had spent a number of hours held captive in when she and Koga first meet flashed threw her mind. She remembered the bone-strewn floor of the cave, the wolves and Ookami Youkai alike lounging about wherever there was space, the absolutely horrible stuffy smell of the place. She closed her mouth. Maybe Myoga had a point after all.

*!*!*

It was mid afternoon, and the gang was finally on the move again after the extended lunch and talk following Myoga's arrival. In Inuyasha's opinion the damn conversation had gone on for far longer than it should have, and contained information that was less than useless. It took forever for him to get the gang moving again, but even after he did that he couldn't get the meaningless talk to stop. Kagome for some strange reason seemed fascinated by Myoga's tales of how certain Youkai species have changed over time, and even now the two were talking about it as Kagome walked along with the flea hitching a ride on her shoulder. Why the old flea was even still hanging around Inuyasha didn't know. They were looking for Naraku after all, why wasn't that enough to scare the coward off? If he had to listen to such mindless dribble for much longer, Inuyasha felt he was going to loose it. Besides, it was taking Kagome's attention away from Inuyasha himself, who had happily been the centre Kagome's focus the last few days. Damn, but Inuyasha wanted her attention back. Just Inuyasha's luck, the one time Myoga decides to hang around is the one time he really wants him to go away.

Fuck it, but Inuyasha really needed something else to take his mind off this depressing situation.

A moment later Inuyasha regretted that thought, as a change in the wind revealed to him that his wish was about to be granted but not in a way he could ever hope for…

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out from the back of the pack where she had been trailing since breaking from their extended lunch. "I'm sensing two jewel shards coming this way, fast! I think it's…"

"Koga, I know." Inuyasha growled out, just as the telltale whirlwind appeared on the horizon and quickly drew closer. Knowing what was about to happen, Inuyasha swiped at the annoying Ookami as he zoomed past him on his way to Kagome, but as usual he was just too damn fast. Having over balanced himself from his swing, by the time Inuyasha had turned around Koga was already holding Kagome's hands while giving her that same old dopey look.

"Kagome, my woman, how are you?" Said Koga, as usual even not noticing or ignoring the fact that Kagome was less than thrilled to see him.

"Fine Koga." Kagome said, big and very fake smile on her face as she tried in vain to reclaim her hand before the inevitable…

"Get your filthy hands off her, Mangy Wolf!" Inuyasha yelled, running up and making another swipe. Koga as expected was able to get out of the way in time and turned around in order to proceed to the usual fight between the two when he suddenly stopped and stared at Inuyasha in amazement.

"Inukoro? What on earth is that, and when did you get it?" Koga asked, staring at Inuyasha like he couldn't believe what he was seeing… or to be more precise at Inuyasha's new tail.

Inuyasha stiffened. Of course, this was the first time Koga had seen him since he got his new tail. It had only been a few days after all, even if it seemed longer to him. He was just getting used to it, but he just knew that Koga about to start teasing him and insulting him about it any minute…

"That tail is absolutely gorgeous!" Koga practically yelled, his voice flooded with amazement, envy and something else which Inuyasha couldn't yet identify. "Damn, how on earth did you get that? My tail's always been one of the best looking in my pack, but that one is out of this world, it is absolutely stunning! Why have you been hiding it? Or is it new? Damn, you know how many Ookami would kill to have a tail like that?"

Inuyasha just stared and blinked. Okay, that was not the reaction he was expecting. Inuyasha started to come out of his stunned stupor when Koga turned to Kagome, only to be knocked right back into it by Koga's next words.

"Kagome, I guess now I really don't have much chance of winning you after all, do I?" He asked sadly. "I always knew that Inuyasha held a place in your heart, but I guess I hoped that maybe I could take it off him. I never really sure what was so special about him, I have to admit, but now I think I do? How can you not love someone with a tail like that? I hate to admit it, but in comparison I'm a wallflower next to his beauty, aren't I?"

"What the hell?" Kagome choked out, voicing what was probably the thoughts of every other person in the group, and certainly Inuyasha's.

"Um, Miss Kagome." Myoga said nervously from his place on Kagome's shoulder, where he had been sitting forgotten until now. "Remember how I told you about one in five Ookami Youkai have tails? Well, since they're such a rare feature amongst themselves, and even more amongst other Youkai, that they consider a tail the pinnacle of beauty. It's considered very, well, _sexy_ among Ookami."

Inuyasha shook his head in amazement at Myoga's words. '_You have got to be kidding_' He thought dryly. '_Over a of fighting with this guy, and he still won't back off, but five minutes after I get a tail and he's going on about how he'll never be able to compete with me? Well, at least that's one good thing that came out of this whole tail deal, but still, this whole conversation could not get any weirder…_' However, just as Inuyasha was thinking that, he noticed Koga had turned away from the still stunned Kagome and was looking at him in a way that he didn't really understand but knew he didn't like.

"Actually, with that tail you really are a beauty, aren't you Inuyasha?" Koga said slowly, his eyes running over the hanyou's whole body while that strange emotion Inuyasha had noticed in his voice before coming back and much stronger this time. Inuyasha couldn't help but feel that he should know what that was, but for some reason he couldn't quite place it. Whatever it was, it made him feel very uncomfortable. "I guess you always were, even with that magnificent tail, but somehow I never noticed before. Really beautiful. I don't usually swing that way, but with a face, body and tail like that, I can make an exception."

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightening, Inuyasha realised what that emotion in Koga's eyes and voice was. Lust! The lousy Ookami was lusting over him! Over his tail!

Only one thought penetrated the shocked hanyou's mind right then.

Holy Crap!

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

Merry Christmas everyon! Sorry I haven't updated in so long. Been working on a couple of other stories, which saddly aren't on this site due to their adult content, then I got distracted by real life. I promise I haven't abandoned any of my stories though, it just might take a while for new updates.

Anyway, this is actually the _clean_ version of this chapter. You will find another version of this story on Mediaminer, Adult Fan Fiction and Eternal Destiny in which Koga goes onto greater detail of his lustful thoughts on Inuyasha and his tail. I decided not to post it here due to stricter standards on this site. You haven't lost anything in term of plot if you only read the version on this site though.


	5. A Future Tail

**DISCLIAMER: ****Inuyasha, world and characters, belong to ****Rumiko Takahashi and not to me. The only things that belong to me are the plot and any additional characters. I make no profit of this story, and am doing it only for my own enjoyment (and hopefully yours too).**

A FUTURE TAIL

It had been a week since the… incident with Koga, which Inuyasha tried very hard not to think about because whenever he did he felt his skin start to crawl. The fact that his new tail made him more attractive to Ookami Youkai wasn't a problem. In fact there was a time when he would have been close to ecstatic with such an outcome. Most full Youkai were put off by his Hanyou looks, just another way in which he had never fit in, and there were actually quite a few good looking Ookami females out there. Granted these days there was only one female Inuyasha was truly interested in, and she sure as hell wasn't an Ookami, but still… Anyway, like he said the fact that he was now more attractive to Ookami Youkai wasn't a problem. But finding out he was now considered down right sexy to _Koga_ was enough to give Inuyasha nightmares. _That_ was just plain creepy. So it was little wonder that as soon as the shock wore off Inuyasha started driving the gang in the opposite direction from where Koga had disappeared as fast as possible, nor that he was extremely relived that they seemed more than happy to do so.

Once Inuyasha felt the gang was far enough away from Koga the shard hunt began again in earnest, although with no luck. These days most if not all of the shards had been found. Naraku had most, Koga had two, and Kohaku had one in his back. Kagome also had a couple, though nowhere near as many as that bastard Naraku. With so many shards claimed, it was becoming exceedingly rare to find them these days, and the gang's latest journey was no exception.

Still, lack of luck in shard hunting aside, once the gang got away from Koga they had had some fairly good days Inuyasha had to privately admit, even if out loud he just complained about their lack of success. The weather was nice, they had plenty of food including some tasty ramen (Kagome had thought they'd finished it all until she found some stashed at the bottom of her bag under her text books one night, much to Inuyasha's delight), they had a few Youkai attacks to keep things interesting and stop Inuyasha from getting bored, but none of the attacking Youkai were strong enough to be considered an actual threat and so happily no one was injured. They gang was all getting along well and their were no serious fights between them. Hell, even Miroku was behaving himself surprisingly well and Sango only needed to slap him twice in the whole five days they were travelling! It was the kind of journey you couldn't help but be happy to be along on. Not that there was a snowball's chance in Hell that Inuyasha would admit it out loud, of course, but well; good food, good weather, good friends, good fights? What wasn't there to love about that trip? And best of all, Kagome was staying closer to him that usual, and would often be seen cuddling up to him whenever they stopped to camp for a while. Despite what Miroku insinuated – and this was what earned him one of those slaps – it wasn't because Kagome wasn't interested in Inuyasha _that_ way. Kind of a pity really, Inuyasha thought before banishing that thought from his mind. No, it was a combination of lingering feelings that had Kagome seek Inuyasha's company. A combination of her last persistent guilt for unknowingly making him fell worse about his tail when it first grew in and the desire to comfort him still; and the fact that what Koga had said had really freaked her out and as usual she looked to Inuyasha to be her rock and make her fears go away. Whatever the reason, Inuyasha very much enjoyed having Kagome so near to him, even if he tried to keep up the act that he didn't care. He had a reputation to maintain after all.

At one point however, Inuyasha felt that Kagome was getting too close and had to quickly retreat. He was sure Kagome had been hurt when Inuyasha had jumped up from his spot next to her by the fire and remained in a tree for the rest of the night. The fact that she felt rejected was plainly obvious on her face after all, and Inuyasha felt bad about that, but he didn't have a choice! Not after she did that! Of course she didn't know what she had done was so wrong. She couldn't know. And Inuyasha sure as Hell wasn't about to tell her! He couldn't tell her that! Imagine how she would look at him if he did. Inuyasha's couldn't bear the thought of the look of disgust he would get if she knew what she had just done to him. Usually she was pretty tolerating of his… uniqueness. The fact that she so quickly accepted his new tail was the prefect example of her near limitless patience with him. But accepting this, he was sure, would be beyond even her abilities.

What had caused such a huge reaction, you might ask? The answer was both extremely simple and extremely complicated. Kagome had gently petted Inuyasha's tail. It probably didn't seem that big a deal to her, the way they'd been sitting at the time had meant that said tail was brushing up against Kagome's hand anyway, and it took very little effort for Kagome to stroke the appendage. Inuyasha doubted that Kagome was even thinking all that much when she started doing it, it had probably seemed pretty natural to her. But that sure as hell wasn't how it had felt to Inuyasha, hence why he had to get away from her as fast as possible, before he did something that could very well destroy their friendship forever. He wasn't sure how long he would be able to control himself if she kept that up, which was why he was so quick to get away from her once he realised what her actions were doing to him. Poor Kagome was so confused, she didn't understand what she had done, but to had to stay that way. There was no way Inuyasha could tell Kagome how damn… _arousing_ her petting his tail was! It would be so damn embarrassing!

But damn if that didn't get him hot, and fast! He guessed that was why Koga had gone on about stroking tails during that very disturbing conversation which he was trying very hard not to think about. It was one of the most erotic things he had ever felt, and if Kagome had kept that up for much longer, Inuyasha was sure he would end up jumping her, even with the others there. Bloody hell, it was almost as bad as when she used to rub his ears. Man, if _that_ didn't give him a major hard on! He couldn't kept track of how many cold baths he'd had to take at the start of their journey because of Kagome's early fascination with his ears. And that was before he got to know her better, when he was still comparing her to Kikyo, when he still hated Kikyo (or at least _wanted_ to hate her) and wanted to hate Kagome for reminding him of her. It had been easier to control himself back then. Now that he knew Kagome better and realised just how much he loved her…

Well, he fortunately Kagome never messed with his ears any more. From all his complaining and pulling away in the past, Kagome seemed to honestly believe now that he hated to have his ears touched and so kept her hands away now. While far from true, it was a misconception Inuyasha was happy to let Kagome keep, in order to help maintain his self control. With any luck, after his reaction to Kagome's petting his tail the other night she may come to believe the same thing about his tail too and leave it alone. Kagome had no idea what her actions did to Inuyasha, and he wanted to keep it that way. Kagome was his friend, his best friend. He loved her, but she didn't, couldn't love him back, and he would just have to accept that. He couldn't take advantage of her and her ignorance about what she did to him. He couldn't let her touch his tail like that again.

Still, there was a small part of him that liked to dream of Kagome doing that again. In his dream she knew exactly what her actions were doing to him, and wanted that very reaction. Dreams in which Kagome loved him as he did her, and wanted him. Dreams which he wanted so very much to be his reality. But they weren't, and he had to accept that. No matter how much his heart may wish otherwise.

*!*!*

Inuyasha was bored. Really bored, and he had been for some time now. The last few days as a matter of fact. Inuyasha had held such high hopes that today would be the end of said boredom and that things would get back to what qualified as normal for him and his group. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, as after a slightly eventful morning things had settled into the most boring day yet, something that Inuyasha was extremely unhappy about.

After a solid week of hunting for Jewel Shards and coming up empty handed, Kagome had insisted on going home for another of her 'tests' and to catch up with her family. Inuyasha would have objected, but they had no new leads to follow and were basically just walking around in circles anyway. Besides, they were out of ramen. So after a minimum of fuss, Inuyasha had given in, and the gang started heading back towards Kaede's village. Kagome had immediately returned to her time, promising to be back in three days. The rest of the group meanwhile, settled in for a few days of rest and relaxation around the village, and to try and explain Inuyasha's new tail to the villagers.

It had been some of the most boring days of Inuyasha's life. Usually whenever the gang waited in Kaede's village for Kagome's return, they would be bugging Inuyasha about when was she coming back, or trying to force him into doing various chores around the village that he really couldn't care less about. He'd also have to put up with Miroku and Sango's really weird style of flirting, and Shippo's attempts and playing jokes on him and getting yelled at by the women in his life when he tried to retaliate. Inuyasha didn't know what it was, but there was something about Shippo that made basically every single human female that had ever met him want to defend the little runt from the 'Big Meanie' Hanyou. Very annoying. But this time he didn't have any of that. Because Kagome had left on such good term the others were content to let her come back on her own, fully confidant that she would do so. Things in the village were going well, and there weren't any chores that anyone thought Inuyasha would be much help at anyway, so he was spared that headache. Since Myoga had yet to run away, and the old flea had made the mistake of mentioning that he knew something of Kitsune magic, Shippo had been busy trying to learn everything the old flea could teach him before he disappeared again. Shippo's current goal was to learn how to transform without a tail. As a result the young Kitsune had no time to spare playing pranks on Inuyasha. And as for Miroku and Sango, it seemed they were actually tired from the trip despite how little it seemed to have achieved. They were mostly lounging around the village, too lazy to even group and slap at each other. As a result, Inuyasha time in Kaede's village was surprisingly annoyance free, and amazingly enough he actually found he missed it. The peace and quiet got old very fast for someone like Inuyasha, who was never happy unless he was doing something. Sad as it may seem, he actually missed Shippo's stupid pranks and hearing Miroku getting slapped. He guessed you really don't know what you got till it's gone.

He didn't even have explaining his new tail to the villages to keep him occupied, funnily enough. He would have at the very least expected some nasty comments from some of them about Half-Breed Freaks, but that wasn't what he ended up getting. Kaede was curious at first, but like his friends had accepted it fairly quickly, though she did wonder out loud whether Inuyasha would have any more side effects later on. The rest of the villagers didn't seem to care either way. Sure, a couple of villagers had done a double take when they noticed Inuyasha's tail, but they'd usually just shrug and go about their business without comment. The few that had asked about it didn't try to put Inuyasha down either, and quickly accepted the fact that it was the side effect of a spell to make him stronger without asking any more questions. Inuyasha had actually over heard one old village mutter about 'didn't he always have a tail? Hum, must have been the fox.' It was only then that Inuyasha realised that the villagers didn't really care anymore about that fact that he was a Hanyou, other than the extra strength it gave him. They didn't really care or even seem to notice his difference any more, and accepted him for who he was. Inuyasha didn't know whether to be touched and happy that he had finally found a place where people no longer judged him for his heritage, or insulted that some of them paid so little attention to him they got him mixed up with Shippo. Either way, that revelation had only kept Inuyasha entertained for a few hours, then he was back to basking in boredom.

Today being the day Kagome was supposed to come back, Inuyasha decided he had had enough of waiting around the village and decided to go and get her this morning. He'd arrived in Kagome's time just as she and her family were having breakfast. It was the most excitement Inuyasha had in quite a while. First there was the family's usual reaction to his visits, which were exciting enough by themselves. Kagome demanded to know why he was there and didn't he trust her to come back on her own. Souta jumped all over him, wanting to know how long he was staying. The old man had shrieked about how demons were invading his home, and launched into that old speech about the trials of having a granddaughter who travelled through time. Kagome's mother had just smiled and asked if he was staying for breakfast. Through all of this, Inuyasha had just stood there and had his usual thought about how weird Kagome's family was. Then Souta, who had been jumping around Inuyasha excitedly, had noticed his tail and a new round of excitement had started. Souta had started remarking on how cool the tail looked, and asking how he had gotten it, why didn't Kagome tell him, and if he could somehow get one? Inuyasha had just looked weirdly at Souta after the last question. Sure he knew the boy saw him as something of his hero, but wanting a tail was taking things a bit too far in his book. The old man's reaction had been more expected, going into somewhat of a fit about evil demons and their spells and trying to purify Inuyasha once again. Of course the so called sutras had no more effect this time that they had the last hundred times the old man had tried, but it was still annoying to get so many blasted pieces of paper stuck all over his face. The old man's spiritual powers may be about even with that of a common squirrel's, but he sure was fast at pasting those useless bits of paper.

Once Kagome and her mother managed to get the old man to calm down and return to his seat, Kagome and Inuyasha had quickly told the family about how the tail was a side effect of the spell Inuyasha had used to make him stronger. Inuyasha was actually kind of surprised Kagome hadn't told them, but was also touched that she respected him enough to keep his secrets for him, even from her own family. Anyway, once the family understood why he had the tail, they calmed down somewhat. Souta had expressed disappointment that he couldn't get a tail of his own before returning most of his attention to his breakfast. The old man had also returned to his meal, though he was muttering the whole time about 'evil demon spells' and about how he better have Kagome take a couple of his 'scared sutra's for dispelling evil demon spells' with her when she returned to Inuyasha's time. Mrs Higurashi had gushed about how 'traumatic' suddenly growing a tail must have been for Inuyasha, while pilling a plate high with all of his favourite breakfast foods from his time to 'make him feel better'. Normally Inuyasha would have objected strongly to the fact that he could ever be 'traumatised', but that woman's cooking so damn good that he figured he could keep quiet… just this once.

Once breakfast was over, Inuyasha was disappointed to learn that Kagome wouldn't return with him then and there, claiming she had another test today and that she really needed to go to school. Mrs Higurashi had invited Inuyasha to hang out around the house while Kagome was gone, which Inuyasha agreed to figuring why not? It couldn't be any more boring hanging around the Higurashi house all day than it could on the outskirts of the village could it? Might as well stay.

Souta had been ecstatic. He had school too, but he was staying home today because he claimed he was sick. Judging by the suspicious look on Kagome's face, she wasn't so sure about that claim. Inuyasha also had doubts about it, seeing how Souta had been jumping about when he first arrived, and how the boy didn't _smell_ sick. Then again, he had also said he wanted a tail, so who knows?

Anyway, that was this morning and it was now early afternoon, and Inuyasha was bored again. After this morning, the excitement level in the Higurashi household had dropped to only slightly higher than that around the village. The old man had disappeared somewhere a couple of hours ago and hadn't been seen by Inuyasha since. Mrs Higurashi had been busy doing chores all day, stopping to poke her head in and check on Souta a few times and making him and Inuyasha lunch around midday. Each of his mother's visits had resulted in a coughing fit, which the boy would mysteriously recover from as soon as the woman was gone again. Since Inuyasha had been spending the bulk of his day with the boy, he was now sure without a doubt that his 'sickness' was indeed faked. Inuyasha wasn't about to give the kid away though. If he was smart enough to make up a story that got him out of that horrible place that gave Kagome nightmares about 'failing', then Inuyasha wasn't about to mess up the kid's plan. He just wished Kagome was smart enough to think up something like that.

Still, by now Inuyasha was really quite bored. Souta was a good kid, but there were only so many times the Hanyou could stand being beaten at those weird 'video games'… and not to make excuses, but Souta was clearly at an advantage with them, seeing as Inuyasha had trouble with the 'controller' because of his claws. If it wasn't for that, Inuyasha would so be winning. Really.

"When's your sister getting out of school?" Inuyasha asked, interrupting Souta's latest 'I Win! I Win! I Win!' sing along.

"What? Oh, um, about half and hour or so." Souta said, glancing at the time keeping device on the table.

Inuyasha nodded and stood up. "I'll go get her. She always takes too long to get home if I don't hurry her along." He said, starting towards the door, grabbing a hat to cover his ears as he went. He was just reaching for the door handle when Souta's voice stopped him.

"What about your tail?"

The innocently asked question made Inuyasha freeze as the situation finally dawned on him. What about his tail? He couldn't hide that under a hat, and considering how Kagome insisted that he keep his ears hidden when in her world, he didn't think a tail would go over any better. But if he couldn't hide it, then he'd never be able to go out in public in Kagome's world. Sure he didn't like her loud, smelling world filled with tests all that much anyway, but the idea that he could never go out with Kagome here again made Inuyasha want to whimper, and his ears and tail unconsciously dropped. Now what was he supposed to do?

Mrs Higurashi, who had been coming to check on Souta again, paused as she laid eyes on the despondent looking Hanyou standing in the doorway. She had arrived just in time to hear Souta ask his question, and her heart broke as she came to the same realisation Souta did. Poor Inuyasha. She knew it would be horrible for him to be trapped at the shrine while Kagome ran around their world without him. And Mrs Higurashi knew, as much as Kagome worried about Inuyasha when he went out in public in their world, that she would miss the Hanyou too. During her time in hospital in particular Kagome had loved having Inuyasha at her side, especially (and she knew her daughter would deny this if ever confronted with it), when the nurses would compliment her on her cute boyfriend. It wasn't fair that such a sweet, loyal and brave boy had to hide himself because of how he looked. She wished she could do something to help him, and quickly ranked her brain for some way to do so. Oh, if only her dear husband were still alive, maybe he would know what to do. He always was so smart, and such a good problem solver, even if he did have such bad fashion tastes… Wait! That's it!

"Inuyasha." Mrs Higurashi said, and the Hanyou turned around to face her looking surprised. Apparently he had been so deep in his misery that he hadn't noticed she was there. "If you want to go pick up Kagome, can you come with me for a minute. I think I may know of a way to hide your tail."

*!*!*

Kagome sighed with relief as she started exited the classroom and started towards her locker. It had been a long day, including a long and very difficult test she was sure she'd failed. She was so glad it was finally over. The corridors were pretty quiet, most of the students having already left while she was getting her assignments for the next few weeks from one of her teachers. Seeing as she was 'sick' so often many of her teacher had become agreeable to the idea of giving her assignments in advance in case she wasn't there when it was time to do them, and allowed her to hand them in on her own. This worked fairly well for Kagome, who was able to do a lot of her work on her own, usually on trips in the feudal era, and so was a little less panicked when she came back to school and saw how far ahead everyone else was.

Today though, Kagome hadn't paid that much attention to what her teachers were saying. Inuyasha's arrival this morning and once again brought him back to the forefront of her mind and she spent most of the day wondering how he was doing. Not that this was all that unusual for her. When she was with Inuyasha she worried about school, but when she was in school she day dreamed about Inuyasha. It was a vicious cycle she really had to break if she wanted to pass.

Today however was not the day when that was going to happen. Today she was too busy thinking back over everything that had happened in the last few weeks. And although there was a hell of a lot to think about, it was what might very well be on of the little things that for some reason stood out the most in her mind today. Namely, that day a while back when she gently petted Inuyasha's tail and he'd jumped away from her like she'd tried to set it on fire. What was that all about? She had felt so hurt, but then she'd noticed the absolutely horrified look on Inuyasha's face and felt even worse. What had she done that had upset him so much? Did he really hate having his tail touched all that much? The way Koga had gone on, you would think he would have loved to have his tail petted. Then again, there was no guarantee that Inuyasha's tail was anything like an Ookami's tail, so maybe Inuyasha completely different reaction to her touch that Koga would have. Not that Kagome had any intention of doing anything with Koga except running away from him if she saw him again any time soon. That creepy conversation still gave her chills just thinking about it. Or maybe it was like his ears? He'd always hated having his ears petted after all, which had always seemed strange to Kagome as they were just like a dog's ears and she'd yet to hear of a dog that didn't like having his or her ears scratched. Maybe that was the problem; maybe he thought she was thinking of him like a dog? She knew for a fact that he really hated that. Not that she could blame him, thinking back over all the times she had treated him like a dog with shame. How would she feel if her closest friend treated her like a mere animal? Well, if that was the case she promised she wouldn't do it again. If he didn't like having his tail petted, she wouldn't pet his tail. No matter how cute it was.

As Kagome was making sure she had everything she needed out of her locker, she happened to overhear a couple of girls in the year above hers gossiping and they headed for the exit.

"Have you seen him?" One girl asked, looking very excited.

"Oh yeah, I saw him." The other girl who Kagome vaguely remembered was named Chiko, said with a sigh of longing. "Your lucky I'm such a good friend to come and get you, when what I should be doing is hanging off his arm trying to get him number. He is so damn hot!"

"I heard he looks really dangerous though." Her friend said, sounding worried and interested all at the same time. "Are you sure he's safe?"

"Not in the least." Chiko said with a laugh. "But isn't that half the attraction? That hair, those clothes, those really wild tattoos. You just know he's got to be dangerous. And you just know he's got to be good in the sack. Damn how I'd love to fuck that piece of beef cake."

"Yeah, but isn't he here to meet some other girl?" The other girl asked. "That's what I heard he said."

"Yeah, well, her mistake for leaving him out there all alone." Chiko said with a laugh. Her friend started laughing with as the two disappeared around the corner.

Kagome rolled her eyes. Really, some of the girls in this school, drooling over some guy they've only just meet. She hoped the guy's girlfriend was able to get to him before some girl like Chiko got her claws into him.

When Kagome got outside, there was a huge crowd of girls gathered around the gate, from all year levels. Kagome had more or less expected that after Chiko and her friend's conversation, but she had expected it to be this large, and curious she made her way over to see what, or to be more accurate _who_, was the centre of so much attention. She didn't really know what she expected, but what she saw so was not it, and she had to pause, close her eyes and look again to be sure she wasn't seeing things. But nope, she wasn't, he was really there.

Standing in the middle of what seemed to Kagome to be every girl in her school was Inuyasha. _Her_ Inuyasha.

And yet, not so much her Inuyasha. She'd never seen him looking like this before, and she almost found herself drooling at the sight. Damn, but she'd never seen him looking so fine! Over the last two years she and her family had managed to get Inuyasha somewhat used to modern day clothing. When she was in hospital after Naraku's latest attack, before Inuyasha went off to find Meikyuu, he'd worn modern clothes fairly regularly, so as to see her more often with the nurses staring at him too much. That was only things like sweat pants and baggy sweaters though, nothing like this. Right now, Inuyasha was decked out from head to toe in solid black. Black work boots, black jeans, a tight black wife-beater that showed his muscular torso off to perfection. On top of his head was a black bandana that covered his ears and added nicely to the overall look. But what really caught Kagome's attention was the long black leather tench coat Inuyasha wore over the whole assemble. After a few seconds of staring in a lust filled haze it occurred to Kagome that she knew that coat; it used to belong to her father. On an old, balding and somewhat pudgy man like him it had looked really silly, but on Inuyasha it had a whole 'nother effect. Kagome though she was going to have an organism just looking at him. In the back of her mind, Kagome ran through a whole list of TV and movie stars who wore simular things; that guy who had super powers and had to save people from this weird virtual reality world which everyone inside thought was real but really wasn't; that sexy vampire who was evil, then sort-of-good-but-not-really, then insane, then good, probably with a few more changes in-between that Kagome couldn't remember; and a whole slew of others whose names she couldn't even remember but it didn't really matter. None of them could hold a candle to Inuyasha right now. Chiko was right, between the clothes, his long silver hair and those marking, Inuyasha looked the epitome of a hot, sexy and dangerous bad boy.

And he was in the middle of a whole crowd of horny schoolgirls who thought they could take him away from her. That was so not happening! Angrily, Kagome stomped up to Inuyasha, ready to give him a piece of her mind about flirting with her schoolmates, but as she got closer Kagome realised something. Inuyasha wasn't flirting with any of those girls. In fact, he seemed to be scared of those girls and was trying to get away but they wouldn't let him. Kagome almost laughed as she realised this. Her big brave Hanyou; could fight the most powerful Youkai without the slightest bit of fear, but put him in the middle of a gang of schoolgirls and he's terrified out of his mind. Kagome snickered to herself. Oh well, she better go save him. He's saved her hundreds of times after all; it was only fair she repay the favour. Trying to laugh out loud, Kagome walked over now in better spirits.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out when she was almost upon him, trying to act and sound like she didn't even notice the flock of girls were there. "Did you come to pick me up?"

Inuyasha instantly looked over, relief evident in his eyes. "Kagome! About time, you take way too long. Come on we got to go! The others will be waiting for us by now."

Smiling, Kagome reached for him and linking his arms with hers as she started leading him out of the crowd. "Let's just stop off at my place so I can grab my stuff, then we can get going." Once Kagome had safely gotten Inuyasha out of the crowd, she turned to glare back at the mass of girls who were still standing there staring after them, not able to believe that such a sexy young man would leave with someone like Kagome. However, once the girls were treated to Kagome's 'Evil Stare' as Shippo called it, the look that scared full Youkai into hiding, they decided it wasn't worth fighting over right then and scattered. Content, Kagome looked forward as she and Inuyasha continued on their way back to the shrine.

"Thanks for the rescue." Inuyasha said once they were out of earshot of all those weird girls. "Those girls were crazy, I couldn't get away from them."

"Don't mention it." Kagome said. "Why are you dressed like that though?"

"Keh, had to hide my tail." Inuyasha said with a shrug. "The cloak works well for that, though I don't know why your mother said I have to wear the rest of it with it. Something about how it 'all goes into the look'?"

Kagome smiled. "A coat like that either makes you look really cool, or it makes you look plain stupid. You got to be careful about what else you wear with it, and what you yourself look like, if you don't want to end up firmly in the 'stupid' category. When my dad used to wear that coat he always looked silly. He was really loveable man, but he could never pull it off no matter how hard he tried."

"This was your dad's cloak?" Inuyasha asked, surprised. He didn't know much about Kagome's father but he knew the man had been loved by all of his family when he was alive. The fact that Mrs Higurashi trusted him with something that had belonged to her late husband was a great honour Inuyasha realised, and was deeply touched.

"Yeah it was." Kagome said looking down for a moment as she remembered her father, before she quickly perked up again. "Of course he never looked as good in it as you. When I first saw you, I couldn't believe how hot you looked…" Suddenly realising what she just said, Kagome slapped her hand over her mouth as her face turned as red as Inuyasha Fire Rat. She couldn't believe she just said that. Praying that Inuyasha wouldn't realise what the modern term meant, Kagome freed her arm and started picking up her pace until she was almost running home, muttering something about how they better hurry.

A slightly confused yet grinning Inuyasha followed her. He was pretty sure he knew what Kagome meant by 'hot' and it had nothing to do with the weather. He would have to make sure to ask Souta before he and Kagome left for his time, no doubt about that. But if he was right, one thing was for certain; he would need to see about borrowing the cloak again in the future if Mrs Higurashi would let him.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Chapters in this story just keep getting longer, with this one the longest yet at just under six thousand words. I'm really having fun writing this story, and I hope your having fun reading it. For those people who have been asking if there will be more side effects, I'm going to let you in on a spoiler right now and say yes, but I'm not going to tell you what they are yet. You'll just have to keep reading and find out.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story so far. It's people like you that make me want to keep writing.


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